Delhi has no reason to escalate tension: Musharraf calls for peace
By Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Friday that there was no reason for India to escalate tension on borders and called upon its leadership to improve relations between the two countries.
Speaking at the senior armed forces officers meeting at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Friday, the president expressed the belief that “the ball is now in India’s court.”
He said peace was in the greater interest of Pakistan and India. However, he declared Pakistan was fully prepared to thwart any nefarious enemy designs.
“Pakistan’s deterrence which consists of its quantified force, capability of causing unacceptable damage to the enemy and our resolve, is in place”, he remarked.
Informed sources said that the meeting also discussed the Indian test of the Agni missile. The meeting was told that Pakistan has all the capabilities to match India’s test firing of missiles.
Sources said the meeting expected that the US and the western countries would take serious notice of the Indian’s latest test firing of the ballistic missile.
The president also reportedly informed the meeting about his latest telephonic talks with the world leaders and said that the international community today believed that Pakistan has taken a lot of measures to deescalate the situation and that it was India which was not interested in peace and for that matter it was refusing to withdraw its troops from the borders.
The president also highlighted the situation in Afghanistan with special reference to the rehabilitation process.
Talking about the internal situation in Pakistan, he said that the writ of the government would be established at all costs. He emphasized that whatever action the government was taking it was for the betterment and in the very much interest of Pakistan and its people.
Elucidating the strides made in the economic, educational and scientific fields, Gen Musharraf said that the government was emphasising on the development of agricultural and water resources.
He said that the measures taken by building dams and canals would provide an additional 3.5 million acre feet of water and at the same time, it would bring under cultivation two million additional acres of land.
He enumerated the steps being taken to advance in the field of higher education including information technology, engineering, bio technology and pharmaceuticals.
